Composting pilot comes to Prairie Village, Kansas

The city of Prairie Village, Kansas, has partnered with Kansas City, Missouri-based nonprofit KC Can Compost to launch a pilot program for free community composting.

Residents can drop off food scraps using KC Can Compost’s two Smart Cans, which the city says are designed to be pest resistant and accessible through a smartphone app.  

The program, which started July 1, collected more than 500 pounds of compost in its first week, according to an Instagram post by the city of Prairie Village.

“We’ve also gone through more composting supplies than KC Can Compost usually uses in a 6-month period,” the city says in the post. “By the time you read this, we may be completely out of countertop bins and buckets (again).”

Food scraps are to be collected in a container lined with a Biodegradable Products Institute- (BPI-) certified compostable liner. Residents can download the MetroKEY App to find the nearest Smart Can location. Once a user is within 5 feet of a Smart Can, the app allows the user to remotely unlock the unit. KC Can Compost says cans also are remotely monitored and solar powered.  

With the Johnson County landfill projected to reach capacity between 2037-2042, Prairie Village says food waste diversion was identified as the highest priority in Johnson County’s Solid Waste Plan. Through waste characterization and residential hauler data, the county estimates single-family homes generated about 32,930 tons of food waste in 2022. Of all the waste hauled to the landfill, 27 percent of it is food waste, according to the solid waste plan.

“We are excited to partner with Prairie Village to launch their community composting pilot program,” KC Can Compost says on its website. “The first [two] Smart Cans are now available for Prairie Village residents in Harmon Skate Park and Wassmer Park.”

Founded in 2019, KC Can Compost leads food scrap diversion initiatives and also provides Green Core Training (GCT), which is an environmental literacy, workplace readiness and green jobs training program. KC Can Compost says GCT students learn about more than 100 different environmental jobs and career pathways and receive assistance in finding employment upon graduation.